2000 nakato points = 1 kaseki dinner for 2

A year or two ago, we rediscovered an old classic in Atlanta - Nakato. Derek saw a cooking demonstration from one of their chefs on a local tv show, so we decided to check it out again. The sushi was great, and we signed up for a Nakato card that night. This is a typical customer loyalty card -- you get a point for every dollar you spend, double points on Mondays and Tuesdays, and the points can be used for things like a free appetizer, an entree, a tea ceremony or a trip to Japan. Yep, a trip to Japan -- not your ordinary customer-loyalty prize. Well, after many visits to Nakato, where we are now acknowledged regulars, we earned 2,000 points and decided to cash them in for a kaseki dinner for 2. No, we didn't wait for 25,000 points for one of us to go to Japan.

For the record, we don't just go to Nakato for the points. We have become regulars because it's a great restaurant with fresh, consistently delicious food and friendly service (which shouldn't be hard to find in a city as large as Atlanta, but it is). When Derek is traveling, I go eat and hang out at their bar with Nuk, a sweet and lovely bartender from Thailand. We became friends when I stopped in for dinner last year, hungry and exhausted from shopping for my wedding dress in Buckhead all day. Since then, Nuk has not only provided me a dinner companion, but also introduced us to an amazing, authentic Thai Sunday brunch at Thaicoon on Briarcliff. The catfish salad and bbq chicken is wonderful, but I digress.

So, we headed to Nakato on Wednesday, full of excitement, but with no idea what to expect. All of the staff seemed excited to have us take advantage of the dinner. We were led to the back rooms, instructed to leave our shoes at the door, and directed to sit on cushions resting on the floor at the foot-high table. Obviously, this was the Americanized-room, because there was a pit under the table to put our legs so we didn't have to sit cross-legged. One of our favorite waitresses, Kayo (I hope I'm spelling it correctly), a petite and friendly Japanese woman, came in and prepared us a little for what was coming. We ordered our usual wine, Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio (which is a bargain at $30 a bottle) while we anxiously awaited our first course (Mr. Nakato, please excuse me if I describe any of our food incorrectly.).

Kayo returned with our first two courses -- a fish soup and appetizer plate. The soup had all different types of mushrooms, some veggies and a fish "package" in a clear broth -- delicious! The appetizer plate was made up of (in order of my favorites): a tiger's eye, which consisted of a thinly sliced ring of calamari stuffed with smoked salmon; jellyfish with plum paste, gindara, a meaty snail/shellfish of sorts (which was surprisingly good) and one more item I can't remember.

The next course took our breath away. Kayo came in with a bamboo platter filled with snowcone-like ice, complete with a molded igloo, and 12 pieces of sashimi. It was the freshest and most flavorful sashimi we have ever tasted -- 2 types of fatty tuna, salmon, red snapper, amberjack and scallop. And the presentation was so charming!

Next, came a baked lobster tail with a sea urchin roe topping and a goji berry on the side. The roe was so rich and creamy, almost like a gratin, and the meat was tender and sweet. The meal continued with a smoky-flavored fried eel, perched atop a ring of cucumbers, sliced paper-thin. Derek was extremely impressed with the chef's knife skills on the cucumber, so much that he ate all of his, even though cucumber is one of his least favorite foods.

By the 7th course, sushi, we were getting pretty full. Although it couldn't compete with the earlier sashimi, it was still good. Some eel, salmon, and various other sushi pieces made up the platter, which I couldn't finish. Oh, and I forgot, we received miso soup at some point, which was delicious and also provided entertainment for us as we tried to figure out how the miso always forms into a ball when you let it sit (instead of settling on the bottom).

Green tea and green tea ice cream in a wonton "cone", red bean paste in a translucent gel and baby peaches rounded out the meal.

Only the tasting menu at Restaurant Eugene could compete with such an outstanding meal, but that's for another blog. The entire meal (which we think would have been between $100 and $140 per person and would have been worth every penny) felt like a special occasion with a glimpse into authentic Japanese cuisine. Almost none of the items from the kaseki dinner appear on the regular menu, which added to the exclusivity. We are a little worried that the main dining room experience just isn't going to be enough for us anymore!